Widescreen dance at water tower wins state award

Details: By Elisabeth Taylor; Category: Arts; 07 January 2015; Hits: 938

Luminarium Dance Company's "Night at the Tower," funded by the Arlington Cultural Council, has been selected by parent Massachusetts Cultural Council to receive a Gold Star Award.

The state council said the project received this distinction because of its success in integrating the arts into the Arlington community.

Collectively, Gold Star-winning projects like this one tell the story of how culture contributes to the quality of life in cities and towns across Massachusetts.

The event took place last September in Arlington at the Park Avenue Circle water tower.
The Gold Star Program annually recognizes model community arts, humanities and science projects funded by the 329 local cultural councils across the state. These projects celebrate diversity, foster collaboration, showcase artistic excellence and provide learning experiences for people of all ages and backgrounds.

Gold Star awards are nominated by local councils and are evaluated by the state council based on a variety of criteria including: artistic quality, success in reaching out to underserved constituents, educational value, and ability to engage with the community. The local program is the largest volunteer-run, grass-roots arts-funding program in the nation, supporting thousands of community-based projects in the arts, humanities, and interpretive sciences annually.
The state council promotes excellence, access, education and diversity in the arts, humanities and interpretive sciences, in order to improve the quality of life for all Massachusetts residents and contribute to the economic vitality of our communities.
The state council is committed to building a central place for the arts, sciences and humanities in the everyday lives of communities across the Commonwealth. The council pursues this mission through a combination of grant programs, partnerships, and services for nonprofit cultural organizations, schools, communities, and individual artists. The council receives an annual appropriation from the state Legislature and federal funds, the Wallace Foundation and other sources.